Neurologic Involvement in COVID-19: Cause or Coincidence? A Neuroimaging Perspective

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Infectious Diseases
• Radiology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns about potential neurologic complications.
• Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the nervous system is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the frequency and nature of neurologic symptoms in COVID-19 patients.
• To analyze acute neuroimaging findings in a cohort of COVID-19 patients presenting with neurologic symptoms.

Main Methods:

• Descriptive, cross-sectional study reviewing 103 COVID-19 patients who underwent neuroimaging.
• Analysis of neurologic symptoms and corresponding acute imaging results.
• Comparison of neuroimaging findings against a larger cohort of 2249 COVID-19 patients.

Main Results:

• Mild nonfocal symptoms, stroke symptoms (code stroke), focal deficits, encephalopathy, and seizures were common reasons for neuroimaging.
• No cases of encephalitis or direct central nervous system infection were identified.
• Thirteen patients had ischemic events and 7 had hemorrhagic events, often with pre-existing vascular risk factors; however, many symptomatic patients showed negative neuroimaging results.

Conclusions:

• While cerebrovascular events occurred, no definitive association between COVID-19 and specific neuroimaging findings was established in this cohort.
• Further research is needed to clarify the relationship between COVID-19 and neurological manifestations observed on neuroimaging.